Paris, 1890. Place de la Concorde, a gust of wind sweeps across the wet pavement. An elegant Parisian woman crosses the scene, firmly grasping her hat with one gloved hand, the other clutching her purple hatbox. Behind her, a man chases after his blown-away headpiece. Jean Béraud captures the moment with photographic precision.
The Living Chronicle of Modern Paris
The painter arranges his characters like actors in an urban comedy. The woman in the foreground wears a cream and navy blue ensemble, her skirt whipped by the wind. Silver reflections dance on the drenched roadway. In the background, the Palais Bourbon and misty façades emerge in a pearl-grey atmosphere. Béraud works with a fluid touch, capturing the diffuse light of a rainy Parisian day. His brushstrokes restore the texture of the wet ground, the transparency of air saturated with humidity.
A Reporter-Painter of the Boulevards
To create these scenes of urban life, Jean Béraud designed a mobile studio drawn by horses. This ingenious installation allowed him to paint from life, protected from the weather, observing the daily ballet of Parisians. The artist thus documented the Belle Époque with the eye of a chronicler: new fashion trends, Haussmann’s transformations, emergence of an urban middle class. His paintings constitute a testimony to Parisian modernity.
Jean Béraud
Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, Béraud (1849-1935) moved away from history painting to become the portraitist of contemporary Paris. His academic technique serves a resolutely modern vision of the capital.
Think about it
💭 What does this chase after a hat tell us about our relationship to the everyday, to the small dramas that punctuate our days?
About This Work
- Windy Day, Place de la Concorde
- Jean Béraud
- circa 1890
- Oil on panel
- 56 × 37.6 cm
- Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
- https://www.clarkart.edu/ArtPiece/Detail/Windy-Day,-Place-de-la-Concorde
